our guests include tom shatz to talk about the federal budget. "washington journal" is next. . .

president obama takes aim at the perception that he and his administration are anti business.

what follows in this interview are excerpts of obama's conversation with the bloomberg news white house correspondent, and washington bureau chief, executive editor, and bloomberg business week editor. one of the first question that they ask him is about business.

if you look at our policies, everything we have done over the last year and a big thing we intend to do over the next several years i think will put american business on a stronger footing.

we want to hear from you this morning whether or not you think the obama administration, being perceived as anti business, it is the correct perception. send us an e-mail at journal@c- span.org or a tweet at c-spanwj. the entire article is at business week.com. this is how bloomberg on their website play it. president barack obama says he does not begrudge 17 million- dollar bonuses awarded to j.p. morgan chase chief executive officer jimmy diamond or $9 million issue to goldman sachs group ceo lloyd blank fine, noting that some athletes take home more pay.

this interview will appear on newsstands friday. we have got an excerpt from the two web sites. those are two of the experts -- excerpts. this is how the politico reports on this issue. "activists angry over obama bonus talk."

on the white house blog, white house.gov -- you can go right to the blog. you can read this -- we wanted

to clear of confusion on where the president stands on bonuses and executive compensation. we will read a little bit more of this but let us get to your calls. the obama administration perceived as anti business. jerry from columbus, ohio.

independent line. caller: thank you for the picture of the sunrise -- reminds me of king richard the third, now is the winter of our discontent -- remember what adam smith said, steve, supposedly the first capitalist. when the economy ties itself to financial capitalism it is on its way to ruin. thanks a lot, steve, for taking my call and have a wonderful day. keep shining that sun. host: kingston, and illinois, sue on our republican line. caller: hi, i'm sue. i am a republican and i'm very upset with other republicans because i think the president is perceived -- it is because the

culture. i have to tell my six-year-old son that we cannot be proud of the founding fathers because they are slave owners and land steelers but he said, but mom, isn't that wrong, can we be proud of the founding fathers? i said, nope. i have been indoctrinated -- i have to tell them it is wrong to be proud american. i'm sorry. host: freeport, illinois honored democrats landed it is it fair to perceive the obama administration as anti business? caller: i appreciate the opportunity to call in its morning. what essentially has happened is over the years the big business has created a big ghetto in america. whether it is greed or whatever it is, businesses have recently taken the money out of the

country from the people and left us with such a huge bad neighborhood that barack obama wants to fix, but i don't think it is possible. like the old adage -- one dumb person can get us into more trouble than 10 smart guys think it as out of. host: the president on the white house lawn -- the white house blog. they gave the president's full answers to questions asked by business week. what did the president actually say during the interview?

that was the complete answer he gave when it came to the question on bonuses. iowa, larry on independent line. caller: hi, peter, aka, steve, rob as pedro and fred as susan did you have the patience of job. it is rough. i would like to see our money come back to us instead of going to these bonuses. i think the american people have been ripped off so far this century. host: how easy the money coming back to you and what you mean by you? caller: any taxpayer in america. i had seen so much government waste, fraud, and abuse over the last 10 years -- getting paid

for services that were not delivered. i thought 30% was loan shark money and now it is credit card percentage. it is all out of whack and i think it is time we get back some people up there in government that are for the people, by the people. i don't think corporations having money to spend on lambasting the other guy in commercials when it comes to election time. we get blasted by these commercials come election time anyway, and these negative ads are just sickening. it turns off the american public.

host: of on the republican line. obama administration perceive that anti business -- true or not true? caller: true. well, i have been and small business all my life, steve, and i think we are talking about businesses today. we separate business from small business. i ran my company most of my life. i'm 75 years old and never had it so good because i look at what i have. i don't think you will become president -- and even with the stupid bonuses they are handing out, if he had done anything, he should have said there is no bonuses. let us cut them out. host: you think the president should do that? caller: i think he should have to cut the bonuses out. that should have been the number one thing. even these people losing businesses, i feel god awful sorry -- i 8 ran a small

business and i think he separate business from small business. while the men were picking up tools friday night when we finish the job, i took my book in and collected my money. i paid as i go. no loans that i had. and i paid my man out of that and when there was -- if there was some left, i paid need. -- me. i don't understand education. i went to work one month before i turn 14. host: what kind of business to you run? caller: service work. i install equipment and service equipment. my son does the same thing that

i have done for 40 years. i'm from paul quit -- paul creak, wisconsin, i came from south dakota by way of montana. now i service feed mills. host: thank you for calling in. i just want to show you some of the headlines from article abou the "business week" and "bloomberg" interview. here is how "the washington post" played it. obama says he is a fierce advocate for the free market. and in the "the financial times" this morning -- "bonuses are part of the u.s. free-market." in "the new york daily news" --

the next call comes from croft and, maryland, nick on the democrats' line. the think it is fair the president's administration is perceived as anti business in some quarters? caller: no, i don't. president obama is not anti anything. not anti-american for sure. i have a question for you. hello? host: i'd listening. caller: ever since 2006 when democrats took over the house and the senate and they were in

charge, you would think that they had lost the election. now we have a republican, democrat, an independent line and i would say the majority of the calls come in on independent line. i would like to you to ask of independence to call in, did you vote in the last election and if so, did you both for. if they don't the answer, then like you do so many people, just cut them off because they are -- president obama has been trying to heal the country ever since the day he got in there and all he has gotten, as you know -- you guys are supposed to be in charge of the house and senate and report to the american people. host: we are not in charge of anything. we simply listen and we divide our lines by political affiliation. i would say 95% of the people

who call lynn are playing by the rules. i agree with you, nick, that 5% don't play by the rules. on independent line, raymond from pittsburgh. the obama administration perceived as anti business? caller: most definitely because he has never run one, he is never owned one. he has no experience. he does not know what he is doing. surrounded by a bunch of air had to give him advice, and that is how he operates. host: what you did in pittsburgh? caller: i am retired. host: policeman. -- caller: i'm a policeman. host: the white house giving full answers on their blog.

lake charles, louisiana, mark, republican -- hi. caller: i think it is more it to

the point is that he is not a free-market. adding that is the issue. i think everything they do, they have carefully managed by the government. i think that is more of the point. host: anthony in trenton, new jersey. democrat. caller: thank you very much. i listen to these republican callers and somebody said the president never ran a business. what was george bush's excuse for destroying so many business if he had business experience? i think these reasons are just unfounded. the republican party is anti- business party and it is proven by so many tens of thousands of businesses either failing or struggling, people with no job security or worse, no job. i've watched c-span every day and i just saw these policies, to life, these bad decisions one

after the other. -- these policies come to life. i think we need to be discussing in the media more of why the republican party is the party of anti business, the party with the bad ideas. the question should not even be asked. we should be looking at other things in the media. it is obvious that the republican party, to me anyway, is anti business. host: could you give an example, anthony? guest: -- caller: 670,000 jobs lost in december, another 100 of its thousand jobs in february and so on. -- 150,000 jobs in february and so on. i'm in the hotel business. we have seen a drop-off in business and year-and-a-half ago by 30%. we let half of our staff go.

i'm working to 1/2, to three jobs. the decisions of the republican party have gotten us here. for anyone to say anything different is silly. for the republicans that say democrat planted the seeds years ago with carper or clinton, and even though the great, strong business policies of the republicans are so strong, the democrats did so much damage we cannot come out of it and that is where we are and that is just a silly argument and anyone who buys that hook, line, and sinker needs to really look at the facts. host: have you seen any improvement in business the last couple of months? caller: well, i haven't seen much. i don't blame obama. i think the damage was so deep -- i own two franchises, two very successful franchisees.

i am lucky that i sold them before it happened but all of my friends that have businesses in the last two years, i don't know one who has not been really hurt. yes, they are still complaining so there has not been all that much improvement but i do not think it is because of poor policy by obama. i think it is because of the poor policies of the republicans. host: thank you for calling in. welcome to "washington journal." this is from the associated press. white house report the u.s. will likely average 95,000 more jobs each month this year while americans' personal savings will remain high as credit remains tight. next call comes from texas. go ahead. caller: peter beard host: good

morning, mr. peterson. been a long time. caller: yes. host: how is everything going? caller: good, watching the snow. caller: you are going to have to move to texas with us, peter. host: i am sure it is nice and warm down there. it is really nice to hear from both of you and thank you for watching. we sure appreciate it. anything to say on the business front. do you have a small business or anything? caller: i think president obama is doing -- and know what the guy is coming from. going on and on with statistics and bonuses and all of that. i think he has done a good job myself. he is against the wall, peter. he has a bunch of people --

he has blocked everything, not fair. and the president is trying to be fair. host: all right, mr. and mrs. peterson, nice to hear from you and enjoy the warm weather. national, republican, is the obama administration perceived as anti business? caller: good morning. by the way, how is the global warming working out for you, peter? host: go ahead on the anti business. [laughter] caller: geithner, who is a tax dodger, says he wants to stop the boom and bust cycles of the united states economy. apparently what they don't realize is whenever you are in any kind of business -- small, medium, or large -- you are going to laugh to take risks and sometimes you make bad mistakes. the people who have received these recent bonuses on this

bloomberg report, contributed overwhelmingly to the democratic party, and particularly barack obama's presidential campaign in 2008. so all of a sudden he is pro- business. everyone knows it is just political posturing. of course they are anti business. most of barack obama's appointees to his cabinet and to different bureaucracies in the government are anti capitalist. some of them are out right communists, marxist, and maoist spirit so to say this man is pro-business, but it democrats i heard this morning saying he is actively pro-business, they just got their heads in the sand and not looking at reality. the man hates capitalism. he is not a capitalist, he is a socialist, neo-marxism and a course anti business. host: the tea party was held in national. did you attended? caller:, i did.

why? because i am afraid of what is happening to this country. it is going down the tubes and barack obama is leading the charge. host: paul krugman in a "the new york times" talks about this. he entitles this -- clueless. here is what he writes. he plans to reiterate that message when he speaks to the business roundtable which represents the heads of many of the biggest u.s. companies on february 24 in washington. my god. first of all, to my knowledge, irresponsible behavior by baseball players have not brought the world economy to the brink of collapse and cost millions of innocent americans their jobs and/or houses. more specifically, not only has

the financial industry been bailed out with taxpayer commitment, it continues to rely on a taxpayer backstop for its stability. don't take it from me. it take from the ratings agencies. that is a little bit of paul krugman's colorado in "the new york times." -- paul krugman's colorado in "the new york times. back to the white house blog responding to the business week/bloomberg interview. from the white house itself.

white housegov, if you want to see it entirely. joshua, a democrat. caller: your last caller who described barack obama as a socialist, i think it got it right. he came from a background in socialist in academia and i think he is implementing his idea for our economy and our country and when you say he is not for business, that is right. he is not for private enterprise. if it is government owned or it is a business he could run out of business to create more dependent on government that is what he is going to do. the callers and also the people watching c-span, if they would look at political theory they would be the to tell that this is exactly what is going on. i don't know if it is going to be able to be stopped. i wish it would not go this way

because i'm an older democrat who likes the older ways and not the radical communist aspect, but unfortunately my fellow party years put him up there and we got what we got, but i will be changing my party affiliation to vote republican because this has gone way off the cliff of socialism, and i'm not that kind of democrat. i've just thought i would let you know. host: thank you. jennifer in new jersey, independent line did you think it is a fair perception to call the obama administration anti business? caller: i did not think it is a fair perception. i think the republican party -- the republican party, by then taking office the jobs left the country. the businesses should stand up and take their own trade and around the world and take risks with those and not taking

taxpayer money. he showed unveil how corrupt they are and how they made millions and trillions and all of our jobs are sent overseas to slavery. host: florida, stephen on the republican line. caller: good morning, sir. thank you for c-span for giving me the opportunity to see what my government is doing. i disagreed with the last caller. they use the word communist and socialist. obama is not anti business. if anything, he is a corporatist and it is shown and everything is -- he does. the bailout without putting things in the way so with the bonuses are not able to be put out there. i would also like to answer your question -- the tea party. everything he has done has been for big business and corporate america. if you look at anything he put through -- as a matter of fact, if you look at what the supreme

court pushed through as far as being able to donate -- i am sorry, the word he gave to me -- to politicians, he still has not put out an executive order to stop it from happening. it has been weeks now. it is very easily done to put out an executive order like he said he was going to do. as far as the tea party movement. no, i did not go. i am not a sheep. the people who do go to not pay attention to what is actually happening in this country, which is corporate america taking over everything that is here as far as our freedoms and our liberties. host: russ, democrat, new york city. caller: i think president obama is not anti-business. i think business is anti obama. it is all partisan. the rich people -- could not make anybody hire one person, a

job stimulus type of thing. if businesses want to take their businesses or jobs elsewhere, it is all partisan. the republicans are outraged and against obama and that is what it adds up to. host: thank you for calling in. from "the hill" this morning.

in "the washington post" this morning is this article -- miami, clifford, independent line. caller: thank you for taking my call. the discussion about obama being anti government -- anti- business, and nothing so. what is most amusing about the republicans stand about the obama government -- somebody who worked on the republicans for eight years, the government went down, americans have no jobs and

they have the desire to, every day and tell america and they are the ones for business and they are the ones -- to show where we are. that is my comment. host: thank you for calling in. it sounds like you're running a day care. caller: just taken my kids to school. host: cool, republican, atlanta. caller: how are you doing? host: please go ahead. caller: why they giving obama so much trouble, them republicans? i look at the tea party saturday and i don't think sarah taylor spoke that well and she is not qualified -- host: number one, turned down the volume on the tv.

and if you are not republican, don't call on the republican line. no. 3 -- do you think it is there the obama administration is perceived as anti business? caller: yes, i do. host: why? caller: he is doing a good job. the republicans are keeping up stuff and fox 5 news keeping with it. host: susan in hinesville, georgia. caller: i think people cannot understand history. i think it is really interesting that under the republicans, -- republican congress in the past and recently that ceo pay has gone up 400% over what the regular workers make. lobbying has increased over

three times under any democrat. we all know the lobbyist money influenced the elections. and under a lot of the republican congress and -- congress, the laws and agreements we have forbids us from tax halt -- tax-loss, loopholes, on and on and on, has caused a lot of problems and then they had the audacity to say that obama is against business when he is just trying to clean up the mess that the republicans have caused. they better wake up and learn a little bit of history about what has been going on in this country. host: a greek crisis is coming to america, nile ferguson writes in "the financial times."

writing in "the financial times" this morning. sacramento, california, bill, you are on the air. caller: i must be one of their heads, i am statistician and have studied the situation with the federal debt. if you have internal rate of return and only 60% and only 100% in the public's hands -- it depends on what part of the public. if you could take the independent people who are business people, who are

managing to walking in with where the conglomerates are, with energy, transit, and housing, you are going to be turning out small was beautiful and you have eco cities. you could take internal rate of return with a large investors are and put it with internal rate of return to the management of the people who are small managing the financial once distant -- institutions managing the project -- you have a situation where you are on top of, providing for health for seniors and their housing, developers for those living independently and under managed care. i'm doing five pages of notes a day off of c-span and the local

sacrament of channels on the way the administration here is run. the people for ministration in obama are my friends from berkeley. as soon as i start making money and getting internal rate of return -- host: is that the end of your comments? caller: i am having to do what i have to do and social security for years -- i am wearing alligator shoes, of that jackets from italy, 50 pairs of shoes and jackets. because i took and went out on the street with my bicycle i bought for $60. i have been doing all of this research for 35 years without working. anybody that ago, in any public situation -- host: put a conclusion to this, bill. caller: you do the internal rate

of return to the people who are the least able to benefit by the people who are an extension of the financial institutions and the utilities who are managing these alternative approaches and getting a better rate of return and have the government latched on to them. host: all right, what, republican. it is the obama administration perceived as anti business. fair or unfair? caller: i think it is fair. about 8% of the people in the united states pay about 90% of the taxes. that comes from business. i am just a simple guy. and everytime i see obama on television, after he is over with or i needed in the paper, i don't know where he stands. he seems to say one thing -- he is pretty disingenuous about

every topic. now he is getting ready to tax people under the $250,000. i never made that much money. you know, he is just -- kind of like a communist. the principle of communism is from each their ability to pay, to each of their ability of need. he wants to take the money that is being paid back from tarp and spend on something else. wake up, america. just watch what this guy says if you can make sense of it. you're better off than i am. host: this is fromthe hill" newspaper -- "the hill" newspaper.

this is from "the houston chronicle." you probably have already heard this or even seen the picture. former representative charlie wilson died. this is on the front page this morning.

host: "the washington post" has an obituary as is "usa today." in 2003, the book "charlie wilson's war" came out. the author of this book is or was a producer at "60 minutes." those two gentlemen spoke about the book in 2003 at the texas book festival. if you go to booktv.org you can see it at the top, featured video. you can watch former rep wilson and george -- talk about the book. back to your calls on whether or not the obama administration being perceived as anti-business is a fair perception. greg, new york city, democrat. caller: 7:00 the morning watching c-span. i hope i will not be cut off. ok? three points. there will be short. the perception of whether he is

anti business. the question is, who has the perception? who are we talking about here? anti business. yes, the perception is real. the perception is real and regards to anything you ask about president obama. the negatives are always here. i sit here and listen to people call up and call this man a communist, call this man a marxist, call this man a socialist. i guess all the people who worked for president obama's administration are all anti business. what is the next thing we are going to say? he is anti-american, anti this, anti that. the reality is, this man is trying to fix this country and bring people together. the people who say 8% pay all the taxes but a% make all the money. and without the 95% who help the

8% to make the money there would not be all that 8% making all the money. for c-span, the tea party movement, they are not new people. those are the same people who did not vote for president obama. nothing new. stop feeding me sarah palin every morning. there are other things we need to hear. they need to talk about more positive things. we never get anything positive on the morning on c-span. how about something positive? stop being a hammer for what is negative and america. let us talk about what is working so enthusiasm can get back. why don't we have the enthusiasm? why is c-span allowing people to call this man a communist? the last time that happened there was a man named mccarthy with that kind of venom spewed a run. host: mark in seattle,

independent line. obama administration perceived as anti business. is it fair? caller: i think it is beginning to become fair. my wife and i run a technology start-ups in seattle and our goal is to create american jobs, hoping to build the next google or facebook. we were huge fans of obama. we voted for him. as a business owner in seattle whose goal is to create jobs for americans, we have not really seen anything that will help entrepreneurs create jobs. i think the thing at the forefront on the minds of americans is job creation. i don't know if there is any more important issue. host: let me understand. you said you have a technology star appeared you employ 25,000 people?

caller: i was saying google was a technology start-ups at one point like us. but today they employ 25,000 people. we are trying to do the same thing. that is our goal. we have taken our savings and put it into the business. host: in your view, what is the best thing the federal government can do to help you? caller: i think the best thing would be to act as a guarantor for loans. our business is growing and we need to buy things like servers and hardware for small businesses to get credit it is very difficult for us to get a lot of credit. you don't have a track record. so you can't get a line of credit and when you do have a track record in this kind of a catch-22. i think the government acted as a guarantor for small businesses to help them get credit paired with a credit crisis, it has become more difficult for small

businesses to borrow money. i think that would really make a difference. host: thanks for calling in this morning. this tweet coming in. host: we are going to continue to talk about the economy and job creation and business with two members of congress coming up in a minute. representative dan maffei, democrat of new york ever present syracuse, and aaron schatz who represents the peoria, illinois. . [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> tune in c-span2's "book tv" 43 day presidents day weekend. henry paulson talking with

warren buffett of the 2008 economic collapse. on "after words" gary wills on how the atomic bomb changed the presidency and the role of the u.s. and the world. it read errors sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. hw brand and fdr, president obama and a culture -- for the complete schedule go to book tv.org. >> his film, "hillary: the movie" was the focus of a recent supreme court decision. documentary producer and head of citizens united sunday night on "q&a." >> the only collection of american presidential portraits painted by one artist -- renowned painter chaaz fagan on

display at the university in indiana. paintings, photographs, prints, and audio recordings, sponsored by c-span and the white house historical association. if he can't get to west lafayette, see the entire collection on-line. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us from stereos -- -- syracuse, new york, now washington, d.c., representative maffei. if you could tell us a little bit about your district economically? guest: my district has been challenged economically really over the past 20 or 25 years. we were a heavily industrial district. my grandfather and his brothers worked in the auto plants here. the auto plants were closed somewhere over the last 10 or 15

years. carrier, which made a lot of air conditioners here, big manufacturing facility -- they still have a research facility but all the manufacturing jobs have left. the region has been lately grown up over high-tech kind of businesses, particularly green technologies, detection technologies, the world capital in terms of radar and sonar and magnetic resonance. all sorts of things we do for military and civilian staff. there is a new economy but not quite the transition from post- world war ii economy. one of the main things for me is to help make the transition run smoothly. host: what exactly can you do as a member of congress to assist your district? guest: i really think we need to encourage these kinds of new jobs. we are not going to see a very large business move into central new york suddenly or peoria, for

that matter, or any. in the country but we could grow organically our own small businesses. you recently had a jump in the call in from i think the seattle, washington, area. those kinds of start-ups. we do have a lot here. i have been supporting both in terms of getting federal money -- also in terms of other kinds of support, green business incubators. those are the kinds of things we can do. green universities, from the campus of syracuse. we have the state school of environmental science and forestry, the best in the world. we have all sorts of educational institutions. even our community colleges. the spinoffs from the students and faculties are really creating the kind of business that will take us into the future. what i tried to do is help make sure the policies are going to encourage that kind of environment. i really don't believe the

government itself necessarily can do things to directly create jobs. what we can do is provide the kind of environment that is going to help private industry, working with other kinds of organizations, to create jobs. host: representative aaron schatz joins us from peoria, illinois. same question -- it was a snapshot of peoria economically. guest: good morning, peter. . is home to one of the largest employers in america, fortune 50 company, caterpillar tractor co.. headquartered here in peoria and employs a large number of my constituents. i have a 20-county district. i parts of decatur, eleanor, of course home to archer-daniels midland, one of the largest food processors -- decatur, illinois. but the largest employer, despite all of that, is actually agriculture. so, both agriculture and large

manufacturers like caterpillar, john deere just outside my district, rely on a growing economy, not over here in our country but around the world. i was specifically interested in the president's mention of free trade agreement in his state of the union if you weeks ago. he said but for us moving in that direction, we are going to lose out with expanded opportunities for companies and industries in our own country to grow. i know that to be true in my district. but caterpillar, who sells 70% of the tractors the build and our country to other people in other countries, and the large ag industry in our district that relies on people buying our crops and foods. we only have 5% of the world's population in our country, and if we want to be serious about growing industry -- whether manufacturing, small or large, or the ag industry, it will be through trade around the world. host: as a member of congress

and small business committee, what do you and what can you do? guest: i was pleased to hear representatives maffei, a good friend, mention that he did not think government could create jobs. i agree with him. the important part is that the obama administration this year has spent a lot of money, a lot of political capital, spending a lot of future generations money trying to create jobs. the reality is it is not going to the government spending that creates jobs but creating an environment for entrepreneurs, risk-taking, an investment is the water. unfortunately this past year we spent the year talk about $1 trillion stimulus bill which did not stop unemployment from going up, then we talked about a cap- and-trade bill and then health care, all which had a whole host of taxes and fees in them. it created a lot of uncertainty within both the public market as well as the private small- business entrepreneur who says, wait a minute, i don't know if

i'm going to go out and expand my business, i don't know if i'm going to go out and meet the capital investment because i don't know what the rules of engagement were going to be. cost of the employees, health care costs, i don't know what my cost of energy and production of goods is going to be vis a vis cap-and-trade. will we have done is create a lot of uncertainty in the small business sector. we need to instead talk about pro-growth initiatives. maybe there is something we can do what the research and development tax incentives. i sponsored a bill with a democrat from idaho called the relief act which would create payroll tax holiday, which many of the business group suggested would create millions of jobs if we allow more of those employers to keep the money to reinvest in their business. so, capital is important. i have to have access to capital. the president is talking about that now.

that is a good step in the right direction. but we also have to create a level of comfort that, if an entrepreneur here in our country is going to stick their neck out, invest their life savings as one of the earlier callers mentioned, into a business, that the federal government is not going to step in and change the rules in the middle of the game either by raising the cost of producing those goods with an energy tax, raising their cost of health care or some kind of payroll tax as been discussed this year. creating a level of uncertainty -- putting in pro-growth tax policies that incentivize the risk-taking we are looking for. host: congressman maffei in syracuse, anything there you would disagree with? guest: very little, i think he has good points. he is a very good friend of mine. i think it does show there is some bipartisan agreement that can be had. i would stay things a little differently. the government can even -- create jobs, even directly like

wpa. but that is not what is needed now. but the government can do is help facilitate the private sector. that is what aaron is talking about. i may go about things a little differently. i think some government spending is in order, particularly advanced lending to small businesses and other kinds of developers and things like that who, if they could just get a loan or even close to reasonable interest, would be investing right now in america and creating jobs. but i think he is also right. tax cuts are a big part of that. i would like to see an investment tax credit. that has worked in the past. and my guest may agree with this -- maybe you want to ask him -- maybe major corporate tax reform bill where we can get rid of the loopholes that are encouraging investment overseas in manufacturing, but then dramatically lower the corporate

>> we say why are companies moving to china and india. while we are the greatest of power and country in the world. in order to remain on top, we have to remain competitive host: for those of you watching, this is your chance top call in.

>> a member of the small business authority. worked for a long time at the house ways and means committee as a staffer. he's a member of the financial services commity. serving in your first term. correct. >> correct. aaron makes me feel like i'm an old and senior. >> gentleman, you both have been talking about what good friends you are.

>> the media is not going to cover all the trains that arive in their station. the most couldn't row versey gets the most coverage. >> when the auto companies start to get their bail out funds the dealer agreements are thrown out. trying to restore some of those rights crib utility to rotary and little league. worked with the administration to get to something everybody

could agree with. with the auto companies themselves. they didn't get as much play. this is some bipartisanship. we road in the cock pit of a c 130 transport plane. you get to know somebody more as a person when you experience those things together. caller: i auto degree. we have a fantastic group of freshman. we know part and parcel to getting anything done is to know someone as a human being. unfortunately, i think this year has been extremely

partisan. with all due respect, the majority who holds the gave el has to be the one that wants to engage the other side. the reality is, on issues like the stimulus bill, there was no time for republican input. there was no time to massage that bill to bring it to the center. there were no republican votes. same thing on cap and trade and same thing with the health bill. it is sort of the my way or the highway attitude.

>> the senate henl care bill is dead now. the senate has talked about the need to clue republicans. that's a good time we are starting to hear things and recognize we are not the party of know but actually throwing out proposals and ideas to him. it takes that person of authority to want toen depage the other side it's in our best

interest to work well together once the election is over, they expect tuesday work together. the vast majority of us that work in congress really want to work on common sense solutions in the middle of the road where most person people are.ñrñi guest: i have two questions. should governmentsçó set up si teem yick risk insurance policies by collecting premiums instead of merely picking winners andñi losers with

taxpayer collars and with regards to healthcare, if democrats are going to get more leverage in the debate. are democrats ready to implement some of the strategies providing safe guards to protect the doctor -- patient relationship. host: let's start with the congressman. guest: we did include a fund that would help unwind. it would help unwind in a

fairway some would say there is some a couldn't row versey about who should pay into the fund making sure the companies really do have systematic risks and really should be paying it out of insurance as opposed to other kinds of financial issuance i don't want to charge for those financial services just because they are financial services. that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. we want that backstop. i think it is a pretty moderate model. in terms of the healthcare debate. the president met with republican leaders on healthcare specifically he said, yes, the democrats are

willing to consider many republican ideas.ñi some of them have already been incorporated across state lines for a comprimise he also made it clear that it can't simply be the couple of republican bills that there are and you don't incorporateçó any democratic ideas either. it has to be añr true comprimis i think the democrats we are the majority party right now. the democrats need to and want to work with republicans if they will meet us half way. if theyñr won't, there's nothin we can do. host: we have a tweet from

craig. has congressman shock received any stimulus money and is willing to return the money since it has not worked in other states? guest: first, let's back up and address what the stimulus was supposed to do. when the president introduced the bill, its issuance was supposed to keep unemployment from going past 8%. argueablely, it haint worked for its purported goal, which is to stop unemployment from increasing past 8%. the sweeter is suggesting that because i did notñi supt port t stimulusñi bill that the 18th

congressional district in illinois should not get its fair share of federal spending. this is the same argument that people get that the reality is we need to have a serious debate on bonal sides about responsibly federal spending. even the president said, we need to get our financial house in order. regardless of how voters vote on the spendingñi a large part

that went to the state of illinois. it was handed out by our governor. there's been very little money for members of conditioning res to go in and fight. there were no earmarks. i'm not sure it was spent that much more as a result. certainlyly, i'm not going to advocate for our taxpayers, when they are going to be on the hook to pay that money back. >> hairy son, eark. you are on the line. guest: thank you. i was amused at the comment earlier that the government should not be involved in business. i would remind it's standards.

in this country, we have standards that are mandated. if you don't like the standard, you change it.çó a communist country, call that trade and bring it back. now it is a question of which government do you want to support as i see it, the free traders are freely supporting the communist system. >> give you a chance to answer that question

guest: i couldn't thank the caller more for the question. the idea that trade with countries like china or india or russia means that the goods are manufactured there and not here is not true i represent one of the largest mafferers in our country, caterpillar. 70% of the tractors built are sent to another country.ñi china is one of the biggest customers. to suggest that we don't want to trade with other countries is to stick our head in the sand. we only haveçó 5% of the population in the world. we have the latestñiñi greatest

technologies and the best minds inñr the world. it's our company's employee's best interest to want to sell and compete with 95% of the world's population. the columbia, panama and south korea trade agreements on the table right now would be a huge boom. the large mafferers it our district that sell their manufactured goods around the world.ñiñi 80% of the wheat of columbia is provided by u.s. farmers. columbia just signed this year a free trade agreementçó with

canada. if we don't pass a free trade agreement, they are going to begin buying their wheat from canada.çó we are going to be put at a competitive disadvantage. >> right now, we buy their flowers and coffee all tarrif free. it's our advantage now to eliminate those tarrifs. i agree ks it needs to be free and fair trade. we need these trade agreements for new customers toñi grow and employ more people guest: i agree we need free and fair trade. all of the trade agreement

that's follow on this model aren't working not because it is trade but because it is not on a level playing field. it would be like two teams coming on to a playing field and they haveñi to play by different rules. with china. china won't even float its own currency.ñrñixdñr

it has undermined our industrial base. wes a country have to have a strong manufacturing base and a strong agricultural base too. we have to also acknowledge that we can't be nieve and put up with countries breaking these rules and bending those rules while we continue to do things with the utmost quality we can. host: next call from virginia on the indianapolis line. >> good morning.

>> how can we take you seriously if you are not going to crack down on those who hire illegals. what are you going to do about that? my follow up question is explain to people that have lost their job and ended up homeless because you failed to protect american workers and make employment varification mandatory for our jobs. host: we'll start in syracuse. >> guest: i think she is right. we have to crack down on employers that do hire illegal workers.

currently, there aren't those folks. a lot that could not, cannot find enough americans for these jobs. they do depend on seasonal workers right now. while we have to crack down on any employer who hires undocumented workersçó. we hope that will be dealt with this year.

>> that simple. the caller is right. we have a broken immigration system. >> a matter of national security we also need to inporm the process. it takes 8ñi years on the avera for people to become an

american citizen. i don't think the people that game here would have waited to find out if they become an american. we need a more ago i'll system that works. to the caller's point, we need to insure that the same system that the federal government mandates for itself is used and required on employers to make sure people they are employing are in fact paying taxes for residents who are supposed to be here. given the president's interview

with blume's new week he did on february 9. congressman shock. and congressman, then you can answer. guest: it's more than a perception. anyone would have to argue that it is reality. let's step back. whose view really matters? you walk in to the small business guy especially has been discussing business caps this year. those business people trying to sulling and create jobs.

the two mainlyor pieces the president has talked about, which is the cap and trade he continues to talk about their corporations. the reality is we need employers in this country. whether it is the policies like risk taking through tax credits. that's a bill i'm working on

with a democrat member of our small business committee. we are trying to get the r&d tax credit permanent. the original question, is this perception a reality? absolutely. the policies promoted is anything but probusiness, it is anti-business. there's a lot of capitol sitting off the street a lot of folks making the investment we need.

guest: of course the president isn't anti-buys. this isn't enough done in small businesses. there was enough stuff in the stimulus bill. the stuff passed for hope for homeowners and cash for clunchingers, real estate businesses and autos in the other. i agree withçó a lot of aaron's point. i think when you are being attacked by the extremes on both sides, maybe you are doing something right. i think the president is neither anti-business but not going to give away to the big

business either. we are going to try to encourage big business and small business. they didn't exporter jobs because they can't. they are in our communities. that's where we are going to focus on. instead of worrying about our debate, we should just move forward. particularly in my district, that means getting access to capitol and reasonable interest lones. >> leon, go ahead with your question. >> this is for representative shock. have you paid much attention to the wind farms coming up in illinois.

much of the president's energy plan. i think we can get there as a country without taxing the heck . we want more production. the next year, wind production went up 40%. i am aware ofñrñi them, i know

norn illinois, you have to have the right wind channels most of the farmers i talk to are happy to sell the small peas of ground required for the wind >> obviously people would not be investing in them. over the next 20 years, a wind mill put up today should not only pay for itself but

adequately replenish the energy supply system for what it took to build it. i just wanted to say to the american people, be ware of the globalist. they need to repeal nafta i also had a question making it a million dollars if you could give me a definition of how many people with the amount of revenue so a company in take could be construed as small

business would be appreciated. guest: if it's an s corporate, the person who owns the business is looking to move it. maybe the number of employees and there areçó a number of way small to medium type businesses and not to say that big's big business.

we have the financial companies that couldn't be valued i do agree with the caller. we need a different kind of trade policy i try to ask people, don't impune anyone's patriotism. i really think most people are trying to do their best but name calling doesn't necesarily help. guest: i have hundreds of small businesses in my district and i represent caterpillar in my home town. look, from a truly definition stand point, you say small

businesses between 50-200 employees. your caller asked what is the revenue threshold what may be a lot at one business. the work that we did together this summer trying to save the local car dealerships that are extremely important they sell millions of dollars but work on very little money they depen

rate $5-$10 million in revenue. we need to reward people who make investments and take risk and who make a profit. at the end of the day, the question callers need to make, what happens to that profit. they are either going to reininvest it in their small business and hire more business. all of those actions with that prift create jobs. at the end of the day, the taxpayer is a lot more responsibly with his or her money >> good morning. i changed my regular tration, i am now an indianapolis

host: what were you before? >> i was a democrat. a proud democrat. i'm now just a proud american. host: why did you change? caller: why? are you calling me? if you have the majority in the house and can't get a healthcare passed, you don't deserve to be there. it's that simple. i'm 75. please don't ask representative shock a question because he filabusterses. host: were you in favor of the house medical bill? caller: i was in favor of all of them. i have insurance. i have my health insurance but i don't need it.

my grandkids need it. our federal government is the largest employor in the united states my tax dollars pays for every benefit these two men get. every tax dollar is paid for, their cost of living is paid for by my tax dollars they get automatically. they don't even have to ask for it. they just get it. what business in the united states gives automatic cost of living raises? the only one are these politicians that give it to themselves. host: there's a lot to work with there.

guest: a bill that we did pass in the house. i agree with the caller. at a time when americans were sacrificing. it's hard to argue with her in washington and how frustrating it's. after a year of work and the healthcare bill hasn't been passed. a lot of that, if you listen to the president's state of the union address, you could piece together.

if we have that kind of process, we can come to some real agreements on healthcare. it's very important for future generations. she had the right attitude about it. this isn't just about us. it's hard to disdegree with the caller. it's frustrating for us too. it is part of being in a dem crassy. certainlyly, this have been many times in history where we have been able to get through these log jacks i do think you

can go too far. the senate bill burns the village in order to save it.ñi we need to have better system incentives to make sure they are treating patients and not just ordering tests. it really kills the whole thing if you are going to tax one person's health insurance. you are robbing peter to pay

paul. there are limits. there are a lot of good things in the senate bill as. we could get there. >> congressman shock. >> peter, i agree with much of what dan said. many americans are frustrated your great station, c-span was supposed to be included in much of the discussion, which it was not. there have been a lot of broken promises. let's talk about the future and focus on this next year and how we are going to improve things

talking about the republican party they control the white house and senate. with a huge majority. an 81-seat majority in the house. a 60 seat majority so we can get democrats and republicans on the board. that's what many people fail to recognize is the fact that people who stopped this healthcare bill from passing were not republicans they were

the folks who showed they did not support the house or senate version. that's why the house leaders that went home for the weekend and listened to their district said, i can't support this bill. that's why the bill didn't pass both chambers and in the white house being one party. she talked about our benefits. look, i agree with dan, members of congress should not be getting pay increases during a time of economic uncertainity. we should not be increasing our pay? i don't believe we should be increasing the pay of federal workers. we have dealt with much of the out of control spending. american taxpayers are equally outraged the increases in

spending on the federal government. you look the discretionary spending that has deprone by double digits at a time when everyone is pulling back. the republican line. >> hi, gentleman. if you are too nieve to realize that we areñr going to make the containers to china. it doesn't matter how much you lower the tax rate on

corporations if you have real low cost labor to move there. now caterpillar isñi moving out of the united states and you are nieve if you think any differently, sir they are going to go the same way as carrier. guest: all i can say to the caller is that they employ tens of thousands of workers. if i want my constituents to remain employed, they have to have customers for their products. incentivizing them to move their operations to another country.

we should work to remove a terrif and barriers for the disadvantage that our pieces of equipment have on them right now. panama is spending hundreds ofç billions to expand the panama canal. right now, a tractor sold to panama has a tax on it. it's foreign competitor does not have to pay if it's sold to columbia. that's not right. that is the kind of trade we are talking about is making it so that companies whether it be mafferer or our grainsñi there

are smart trade policies we can promote so that we don't loose these companies and subsequent employees so that they are reap tiff in my district and others around the country. i appreciate the caller's perspective but i just would disagree. the united states has to get tough. the president got a lot of criticism both from the international community and economic community. if other countries aren't playing fair, then we need to say fine. if you are not going to play with a set of rules, then we are not going to play with you.

the other thing we have to focus on. the other thing is education. part of the problem is that we are not graduating enough scientists and engineers, we are not with enough skilled labor. even if it costs a little bit more here, we are going to produce better products and continue to doñi that in the future. we have to make sure we have good, decent schools and make sure these people are getting the kind of education they need. >> we have a lot of research facilities. some things we'll probably not manufacture here the bigger, higher skilled stuff, we can do it. host: gentleman, thank you. coming up next, we'll talk with

tom shaft, the head of citizens against government waste and getting his perspective. first, we want to show you just a little bit from february 1. president obama talking about the budget. >> what i will notçó welcome is the same old grandstanding when the cameras are on its time to hold washington to the same standards families hold for themselves. it's time to spend when we can,

what we must and live within our means once again. host: the budget for 2011 projected to be $3.8 trillion. citizens against government waste. the prime cut, $350 billion in one year. $2.2 trillion over five years. any organization these days in the middle of these tough times would be cutting 10, 15, 20% to stay in business. they can't seem to cut anything in washington.

>> is it possible to do an across the board cut. we are very specific in the cuts the resources are from existing studies in washington. some of these recommendations go all the way back to the grace commission the foundationd for citizens. senator feingold. it's a long one. everybody knows what these are. the budget offices each year puts out a list of spending. congress pretty much consistently ignores. if you look here at your website, you'll find the prime cut section. you have 22 pages in this type

face. it's a lot of different items of different cuts politically. how many of these would actually ever be put in place. you have advocated for these for a long time. another one in 2007, base retirery. do you see those cuts happening? guest: politically that's the problem president obama has said to get rid of it. joint chiefs, secretary of defense, president obama. it's going on for a long time there are a few members of congress that keep putting the money back in. the conference on the final

defense spending bill. the senate didn't have any money for inn this alternate engine. the only view was to spend the $4 of 5 million in this particular year. and $7.2 billion and pretty much every study that has come up as don't do it. senator kerry and from massachusetts, they keep pushing it. senator murtha was a supporter. it cost a lot of money, say about $1 billion in the future. there's a handful of member that's say we really need to keep doing this. $1.4 trillion is discretionary.

medicare is expanding. all of that needs to be addressed. when they say we should look at everything. that means everything. the smallest programs like save america's treasure. save the park service which we are recommending should be eliminated.

that's about 8.3% of the product. in your view. the high revenue and certainlyly the bill in the 1980s caused for a short period of time, small increases of spending. if spending went up at a higher rate than allowed nrt law. the money would be cut to match what the projections were.

that is now part of what we have as our baseline it's at 40% of the spending is deficit spending. i look at it differently. you cannot sustain that for any period of time. >> your organization has been around since therly 1980s. are you in a panic mode now as opposed to 5, 10, 15 years ago? have you seen things swing at

all. we have seen for some period of time. i look back particularly in the 1980s, president reagan convinced them to go along with the controlled spending. there needs to be something done. that's a lot harder than it used to be. the american people are even more upset now than they were before. they thought the president would bring change. they didn't think he'd bring all of this spending.

does it help to have the earmarks publy sized? >> guest: there is an earmark. it will show the amount of money spent on earmarks. it's a small amount of the budget it's something that forced the congress to pay attention to. it was said, i'm not going to include something named after you. all of that advertisement free election. small steps. not perfectly transparent, it's a lot more information now than there used to be. wall street journal this

morning. the stimulus, president obama sold the $862 trillion. critics said that was highly unlikely. the 2011 obama budget said it was right. proposing to convert spending as a one-time economic boost into a permanent feature of future government growth. as both the tax policy center and the committee for a responsibly federal budget have pointed out, supposedly temporary parts of the stimulus have now found their way into the budget baseline. . .

caller: companies were going to give those outrageous bonuses. the supreme court has written a wall that the outsiders -- has written papers law by giving them access money. i will give the president credit.

he is trying. but when he says he wants to do this, they have congressmen and senators with different agendas. they do not listen. american citizens. guest: this is what we see with tea party is and people trying to get their views heard. with the modern form of communication, it is easier to get people's voices heard, e- mail, twitter so that people can hear more about what taxpayers would like to see here in washington. you mentioned a corporate issue in terms of the supreme court. they cannot get money directly to candidates. they can provide advertisements with disclosure of who they are. i am not sure they will want to

be identified with those candidates. they can encourage people to support candidates which is probably more likely. but when coca-cola supports congressman x, i think people will say they are being bought. host: joanne in arkansas. caller: i believe companies will align themselves with issues. abc did a piece about chinese getting government contracts or was under the stimulus program, $450 million went to china and they created 2000 jobs fori] the wind machines. over here, we have a couple of jobs. how can that happen? guest: the stimulus funded some

existing programs. there was the conservation corps and build the new infrastructure. there is a non = not a lot lefto build. there was a time limit on when the stimulus money needed to be spent. they had to rush it out and put it into some of the existing formulas city agencies could get it out quickly. the national science foundation funded grants that had been sitting around and have been previously rejected. çthey couldn't afford it three years ago. host: we have a tweet from monty. government can borrow and this cannot go on forever. guest: there is this bottomless

pit of money. they can keep printing it. the united states has some discussion about credibility, the credit worthiness of the united states in terms of how much debt we are accumulating. there were stories about greece and how much they were spending. everything they're doing becomes even more significant in terms of spending. what is going on? if it goes too far, it breaks a lot of the ceilings tapá have been set. host: is it worse now interview? guest: it is worst of a percentage of gdp. the production's that came out of the clinton and bush administrations work for lower. yes, we have the economic

crisis. there is the economic crisis and it became an excuse to spend a lot of money. after september 11, president bush said let's do everything we can to save the country. he did not say freeze everything. that would've been acceptable. people would have said, we understand we need to take strong steps to do things differentlyç and to set other things aside. nothingt( gets setokç aside in washington. the list of programs that have been reducedç gets very small. $6.9 billion, 60% of what he asked for. this year it is about $23 billion. billion. it ist( not much in terms of wht we have been spending.

host: how much control does anyone president have overspending? guest:çó i think some presidents have done better than others. president clinton went with the contract with america. they did inç fact end up with a surplus. a lot of that was revenue end the technology bubble. they did not reduce spending when they had less money. the budget is not really the qsame like at a family when you do have real constraints on how muchxdç you can spend. people have to say, we do not want to pay any more taxes. we do want to see changes. 43 governors have a line-item veto. the a least half to try to

balance their budgets every year. -- they at least half to try to balance their budgets. caller: where i am living, unemployment is still at or above 10%ç here. will be done in terms of extending the unemployment benefits for peopleç that are still unemployed after a year or so? guest: they have extended çunemployment several times. i cannot say it will happen at the state or local levels. they do have a lot of sympathy and try to extend as much as possible. there is a limited for how far you can exékdt( the benefits. we have been through a lot problemsi] in the 1980's. wei]ç got through that.

çóçokt(çw3u!çw3somehow we wie forward. t(ççi]çhost:ççów3 we have a. q guest:ç let's talk aboutw3 the debt. the budget will more than double the debt overç themç next dec. ok l the previousç presidents combined. president bush ran up someç -- forç under $54 billion. $1.3 trillion was perhaps both of them combined. when you see stories like those this morning about the stimulus money which was supposed to be

temporary. it is a hint of which direction this administration is going in terms of spending. çspending cuts, talking about perhaps a 1%ç changei]. theçó cuts he hasñrçñr made orç proposed, to order $40ç billio, there is the most money -- $240 billion. t(itw3 got larger and will conte to grow in the future. there is not much inççóç termf cuttingç back on spending. çit is the only way to do with. host: another tweed, from james. -- another tweet. guest: i mentioned a alternative engine. secretary gates said it would

be a reason to veto the defense çbill. they said that lq#uq) about the f-22 and the presidential helicopter -- they said that last year. there are also sec-ç17's. yes, it can be done if there is enough pressure and of the president and secretaries say absolutely not. host:çç linda, republican. caller: hello. ççi have a couple of comments. i admirei] those representatives you had on before. young people seem to want together. i wish people would stop bashing both parties.

like those representatives said, it does not do good. let's go on, forget last year. we need to do away with earmarks totally. we needç some medicaid and welfare reform. i know so many young people that just keep having children because they can get medicaid and welfare and they do not have to go to work. guest: there was a welfare reform program under president reagan. there are more rewards. i think part ofç the reason the people may see additional unemployment or medicaid recipients is because of the overall economicç situation, nt that people do not want to work. i]it is harder to find a job. earmarks, we agree.

there hasç beenç in production earmarks.  is the perfect number. çthey put in these very sensitive appropriations bills. we do see an in ççqj(jjqáj who refused to accept earmarks. that is something we need to keep pushing. it is a small amount of money. it is the key to reelection. host: north carolina. good morning, michael. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have three items. fairfax, term limits, the commerce does not know how to read the amendment. thank you. guest: tax reform is something bad has been kicked around. it has gotten more provisions

than anyone can count. it is confusing. you get different results. the fair tax is hard because i do not think congress would repeal the income tax. in terms of the other thing that you talked aboutthey're all somt should be considered. çtermç limits works well at te local level. governors have twot( term limit. one-term, like in virginia. i do not think members of congress will limit themselves. it isçóçkççç probablyçç no happen. just voteç in new people to lit their terms. host: barbara in florida. caller: thank you. waste is ridiculous.

they have to stop it. xdthey mention social security. so siit was all set until the bh administration came in. they started spending. they took money!óut of so security and putting bio yiou's. the have policy. çher and her staff -- they have pelosi. she had no reason. she wasn't supposed to be there. she should have to pay that money back. then they give themselves a 20% increase -- for what? they do not do anything. and i'm talking about both parties. i have never seen anything so ridiculous in our government that is going on nowadays.

all of they think about is themselves. they do not care about the people. it is we the people. guest: thatç is one thing that has createdç the tea party movement. i mentionedç a poll in "the washington post," 67% of americans areç angry and it sounds like you are one of them. host: one of the proposals you have made for reform is so security. guest: they have increased the retirement age for ae-q%9ì(lc@&+ people. do that for younger people. another way is to fund social security as a cohort. itself.neration would fundwi- people get more out than they put in, on average.

you're having the payroll tax collected from existing workers. it goes into the fund which is not really a fun. there are lots of ways to do that. privatization is probably not going to get done. it has been successful in chile. safe investments. there are ways to address social security and other entitlements. w3thisçç is one piece of retit the people need to pay attention to. it is comingç from a different çgeneration. baby boomers will have to take more and more money from somewherexdç by increasing the payroll tax so that those retired workers can get their support. qthey think it would get social security.

most will probably say, i did not think that is going to happen. host: what about the criticism that the bush administration changed the rules and downgraded so security? guest: there was a surplus in the "budget." so security mass the size of the real deficit. it has for most of the time it has been around broader and more money than has been paid out. there will not be enough money to pay the retirees. it doesn't come from higher payroll taxes. you cannot say to someone who is retired, your benefits will be cut. some combination has to occur to çkeep that combination alive. host:, what would happen if the

congress voted no not to increase the debt ceiling? guest: it would create problems around the world. the u.s. would not be seen as meeting its obligations. it is a test of, are you serious about cutting spending? it has to be done. republicans voted for it. when democrats were in charge, they voted for. republicans were saying, you are spending too much. spending too much. oneç party in charge has to ti+ increase the debt. host: a greek crisis is coming to america. even according to the new budget projections, it will exceed 100% of gdp in just two years time. the federal deficit will be around 10% of gdp.

the suggest the u.s. will never again run a balanced budget. guest: it does not look that way based on the next 10 years. interest on the debt is another category of spending. you cannot sustain a family like that. i do not know when the message gets through. i say a lot of things happening, the elections in november, the election of scott brown, where there is some response by the taxpayer who say, we note there is a problem. host: virginia, republican. caller: good morning. you answered my first question regarding social security and intolerance. you didn't follow through with

the medicare and medicaid questions. that is a huge piece of that entitlement program. given those entitlement programs and the huge deficit, do you see us going toward one of those european countries and becoming so indebted in decades to come that we will lose eventually our superpower status? çguest: that is a good questio. people in washington need to ask themselves. we think we need those programs. all the evidence of wasteful spending is there. all over the place. they are not doing enough to address those problems. medicaid and medicare can be reformed. raise the retirement age.

let the private sector in vault in health care -- but the private sector involved in health care and have it makes sense. 763 recommendations and they're all pretty detailed and the accessible. host: pennsylvania, pat. pat? you know the rules. çturn down the volume on your . we will move onto missouri. caller: i had a question. a question -- you talk about irascible benefits. eñ irascible tax cuts bk is that one of your recommendations? thei] cbo said there was quite a bit of money back to be regained

from that against the budget deficit. my question for peter, could you tomorrow asked the question, is the perception republicans areç against workers and indias develop perception? thank you. guest: we very much support having people keep more of their own money. we see what happens. it gets spent and overspent and then indebted itok into this massive deficit and programs that are not necessary. anyone in any kind of business knows you can reduce spending in order to survive. they cannot take money. we have always favored the idea of reducing the tax burden. the united states has the largest corporate tax rate in the free world.

35%. most countries are reducing it to iñ25%. ç20% increase. if you put more money in the hands of individuals, you will create more jobs and more revenue. host: next call from california. caller: good morning. i have a statement and question. i am wondering if the government realizes it is not the upper echelon of people procuring the stuff. is that it lower level. these are people that are fattening up their lives. a member of the air force said they used to dump gasoline because if they did not do so, their allotment would be depreciated. that is one example. if they are giving bonuses of $40 million, there's only about

$300 million that would give every family at least $2 million or $1 million. the comet would not suffer. how is giving -- the economy would not suffer. how would it help the economy? guest: addressing the budget compant, it is set up some moneg spent is based on money spent in the prior years. we favor aç zero-base budgetin. you start everything over each year. i]do you really need a program? it would allow some evaluation for a program. in terms of bonusesw3, i do not know we need to hand out money to people who are not working or

who are not creating jobs or helping the economy. there are objections to the idea of giving people money in certain areas. host: tucson. caller: there was a programç bt i thinkç the idea is to have a self-policing program in the state. it says that if it welfare recipient or anyone else needing their income that they will not -- there will not buy cigarettes oracle alcohol or basic cable, no hbo or drive a

fancy car. i can take my answer off the air. guest:çq we do notslike the ida of the government telling people what to do. çthe welfare to work programs worked pretty well. as you tell people what to do, there are these adsç where they t(telç kids not to do drugs. it is not theçó way to get kidso stop doing drugs. çw3they will firq some of the y to do that. çthose are deep behavioral changes that need to be made.

caller: hosthost: we will put tn

the screen. we will begin taking those calls. please allow 30 days between your calls. official washington is pretty well shut down. the senate is due to comment this afternoon. the budget committee is set to craft a budget hearing. if it still happens, c-span will be covering its. even c-span has closed its doors for the second time this week. it is unusual for us. central employees only are being called in to work. we're operating on a skeleton staff. yesterday we talked to some of it skelton staff people who are here, including our engineering people who keep us up on the satellite. here's a little from that.

we're here with kirk who is about to brush off the satellite dish. why do we have to clean off the dish? >>ç water absorbs microwaves. it is the same principle as your microwave oven. it gets trapped inside the water droplets. in trying to transmit a microwave signal from a satellite, there's not much energy to begin with. it gets caught in the water droplets of the snow and palooza our signal level and it will drop far enough and will not get a clean -- and we will lose our signal level. i have been up there twice today. i understand some other folks cleaned it off this weekend. >> there is a contraption here

you use. >> this is the improved device. itit is ready to go. we needed the extra height to get to the top. >> any significance of the different pressures? >> it is all we could scrounge. to get to the dish, which tilted it. that what we could reach it. >> thank you so much. host: that was a little bit behind the scenes as we continue to broadcast in very snowy washington. the sun is shining. maçybe people will be getting back to work. next week,çç we have aç threy weekend coming up because of presidents day. you can find the complete

schedule at booktv.org. will focus on books that have to do with presidents. on top of that, all next week, congress is in recaless. each night, "booktv" will be presenting three hours of prime- time programming. to let you know, each night from 8:00 until 9:00, we will have a call-in program and we will focus on a specific bookç or focus on specific topic. we took two books that a lot of people have talked about or heard about but have not read. one is "the wealth of nations."

we will look at the book on tuesday. this will be on tuesday night from a o'clock to 9:00 p.m. the president of the adam smith will be joining us along with ross roberts from george mason university. there will be talking about "the invisible hand." çon friday, will be talking about "silent springç" and we will be joined by a biographer and also by paul dreeson, and we will be taking your calls. so we'll be looking at two significant books on tuesday and friday nights. on tuesdwednesday night, we wilf economic authors and war authors

on thursday night. this will all be live next week during the congressional recess. we will get that up on the website as we go over the next couple of days. it is now open phones. atlanta, gregg, a democrat. you cut and patient. caller: good morning. -- you have been patient. i went to a lot of deporteet pa. one wants to eliminate medicare. to people know that? the other comment is that a lot of republicans have been locked out. the bills we have before us, a

lot of the amendments, you probably have over 100 amendments from republicans in those bills. if you look at single-payer and the public option, a thing that is compromise. i want to let people know that people should tell it like it is. host: kenneth from pennsylvania other republican line. caller: i wanted to talk about the stimulus. under georgeç bush, he threw te citizens a bone and wasn't enough to pay the interest on their loans. under obama, all the stimulus money -- he bailed out the banks and the stimulus when to governors and representatives of theb. state which are in, but e

taxpayer. i am curious as to why they couldn't doç something between the ageç of 21 and 65, divide e money they will put out on the jobs stimulus and give it to the citizens where they will go out and create jobs or payback and help everything. i do not understand what they do not do that. democratsç -- if they will be sitting in their chairs and the democrats will run everything and line their pockets, none of the money went. the stimulus money went to the people. they controlled just like the people at home who are not spending more than they have to

to survive. host: this is from "the washington post." pakistani officials asserted the leader of the pakistani taliban has been killed. rumors of his death were wonder % true. that was then "the washington post." this is the 31st anniversary of the revolution in iran. thursday it will be a crucial day as an attempt to stop iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. obama promised in the absence of diplomatic progress are a ways from approval. february 11 is the de i ran kan. celebrate the overthrow of the shah hasw3 emerged as another sw

of restraint. next call, fromç alabama, davi. david is gone. will go to georgia. cathy. caller: what i am calling about is the last judgment you had on was talking about corporate taxes. i hear this constantly from republicans. we pay the highest taxes in the world. the government accounting office reported 2/3 of american corporations paid not one penny in incomeçó tax. with all of the tax breaks to corporations get, we pay the second lowest corporate taxes in the world. that is a smokescreen. they try to tell people things to get them to believe things.

it is wrong. we're being lied to by the republicans. they raped and sodomized the economy. the president is doing what any new business has to do -- spend money to get the economy doing. thank you so much. i enjoy your program. host: bryn releases details of next detainees treatment. -- britainç releases details of ex-detainees treatment. this is out "the washington post" plays it. this is different page from "the guardian." diaz, dishonest, and complicity in torture. naples, florida, john.

go ahead. caller: thank you. my comment has to do with the lady, a " you had on earlier. the 75-year-old. she said the government actions were just deplorable. i am also 75. i am a retired brick layer. i should probably say i am leaning independent. i voted for barack obama. it was the first time since john f. kennedy or franklin roosevelt that we might get people in this country to pull together. and to be americans. she is right. i have medicare.

i would have been shut out otherwise. i have diabetes and heart failure and try to take care of that. to think of what these congressmen do, and i want to talk about some who said he would only run on term limits. he is still there. we have professional lazy people. they did not know how to hold a job. i was a union brick layer. i did not have negotiation or arbitration. you could get paid off in the middle of the day. i want the health care system for younger people. i have grand children in ohio. and i want to thank you for taking my call. i have tried several times to

get on. america, start to be americans. think together. host: thank you, john. caller: i think the united states should stop giving israel $10 billion a year. this charity begins at home. this is one of the richest countries in the world. we do not need to borrow money to send $10 billion a year to israel. they can take care of themselves. host: silver spring, maryland. okcaller: this is my first time calling c-span. i have been trying to call for many years. i am retired now. i just want to propose an idea. i watched c-span probably 20 or moreçç hours per week.

i find myself trying to determine whether your guests are democrat or republican or conservative or liberal. that is what i usually do the whole presentation. is it possible to make that determination that somehow there are a democrat or republican or liberal or conservative? thank you. host: we usually do identify our guest. if they don't have opinions, i do not think we lend ourselves to telling because we dido not know, either. sterling, virginia. caller: thank you for your fortitude to shore up to work today. what i think we can save money on is if we would repeal the

hyde amendment. all we heard doing is supporting the unwanted children of welfare queens. i think we are panderers to pedophiles. these unwanted children are the victims. the other thing that embarrasses me when i hear people educated in the united states talk about if i breeze on you, it won't hurt you because of a co-2. put a piece of bread in a jar. put that in a jar. in 14 weeks, you have mildew on the one you breeze on. host: i am not sure where that is going. we will leave it right where it was. a couple of other people showed up for work yesterday. many know what.

-- many nknow rob. you probably heard a voice. that is bobby jackson. body has been at work staying at a local hotel for five or six days. they both showed up yesterday. >> rob halston. it is coming down pretty hard. çon a typical wednesday, how my events will be covering today? >> today, usually recover anywhere from 10 to 15 events on capitol hill or off the hill. today we're looking at senate hearings for tomorrow. all of it off hill event we might have considered have all been canceled. it is a matter of trying to

establish contact with the press secretaries for the various committees and see if there hearingsç will be going n tomorrow. ç>> how how's the weather posed challenges in reaching a to those committees? >> the weather has not pose any problems in terms of maintaining contact with press secretaries because by now have all of their e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers, most of them like to stay in touch withç their blackberries. i have tracked down some home phone numbers. the difficulty is in them trying to convince his their staff people are the various chairmen and is in their best interest to cancel these hearings. the witnesses have been flown in from out of town or flying in

from out of town. what the weather might do in terms of getting them in town and keeping them in town or preventing them from leaving town. those are some thoughts. ok>> same issue with c-span tv. we look at the events that have álastt(w3 week or couple of weeks and put together the programmingç here. leslie and i have been deciding what to air, what sounds best. that is what we have been doing. it takes some creativity and we're just staying on the air. host: we are back live. we have about 13 minutes before the end of "washington journal." this isn'tç "usa today" this morning. new photos from 9/11 that were

released to abc. they were taken by the new york police department helicopters and "usa today" show's to put three of them in their newspaper today. caller: thank you for taking my call. it is time for america to find out some things that are going on. we are still paying jimmy carter's pay. we're still paying clinton's pay. we're still paying george bush's pay, both of them. wouldn't it be great to have a job for a for four years, get fired, and still being paid? host: here is a lead story --

arizona quits. arizona willw3 no longer participate in a groundbreaking attempt to limit greenhouse gas emissions. a change of policy that will include a review of all of the state's efforts to combat climate change. she starts aç short up. arizona out of a multistate coalition the plans to regulate greenhouse gases. arizona will not endorsed the plan of any program that can raise costs for consumers and businesses. we have this story below a picture from snow coming down in new york. climate change is heating up. millions of people along the east coast hole up in their homes. they are seizing on the mounting

pressure to bolster their arguments. skeptics are using the snow to mock those who warn of climate change. in looks like global cooling. most scientists respond the ferocious storms are consistent with forecasts that a heating plant will produceç more intene weather events. there is an editorial about global warming. it is part of a conclusion. it is not backed up by science. it is a hoax. the world has been asked to spend trillions of dollars without being able to evaluate the data. then the first warning that something was wrong. dave in indiana. caller: good morning. i want toç say, if i never hear

the word republican or democrat again, it will be too soon. global warming, though it may be real, anytime you want to use carbon -- tax the people for carbon emissions and give it to a certain group of people to be i]able to regulate and control that type of well, it is crazy. i would like to give a comment on behalf of the american people. i lovet( them. it isç because government do nt have any money. every particular that they have. americanç people are paying for blunder after blunder because government is incapable of being anything. if you took a poll that asked people to screw in axd lightbul,

it wouldzake them $100 million to put together something. the american people need to stop sending politicians. the need to inject themselves so that they can establish a government for the people, by the people. host: california. caller:ç i could not agree with the last call board. people talked as if so security is a type of welfare. we have worked all of our lives. they take out fica. i]employers match the fica. it is not given to us by the government. it is our money. we get a statement every year of what we put in and how much we will get oneç we retire. if i die, and a lot of people

have died in their 60s, those moneys do not go to their grandchildren. there are a lot of people who neverç worked a day in their lives and they are collecting social security when they hit 62. it is not fair to act as if this is free money that is given to senior citizens. these people have worked mostç of their lives and paid into social security and medicare. it is notç fair to make it feel as if you'll be getting something for hostxdfree. caller:ç i think we could save money with the welfare cases if they had to pass a drug test. i think if you took care of the problem, you would have extra money around. thank you.

host: wilmington, delaware. democrat. caller: as far as what the last person said about people on welfare and passing drug tests, they do a background checks, criminal background check for people to get benefits. they are screening those people. i want to say something about so security disability. there are a lot of people on disability. i had health issues when i was young but i did not have health insurance. i know other people that when they were young adults, they did not have health insurance. they had high blood pressure and wind up with renal failure, and that is an issue. i'mçç tired of seeingok people

-- what happened to respecting respect? using racial scare tactics, schering people to death, using panicked -- scaring people to death. to me, and looks like a group of racist. i saw a picture of obama in slaved change. that is disgusting. host: our next call comes from mary in tampa. caller: i have a fabulous way of saving a lot of money for the government and it is a different idea. i am tired of congress -- every year we select somebody new and nothing ever changes. we are in a real crisis. i am looking at the map of the united states and i'm seeing 50 states. why do we need 50 states?

we should break up our states like the territories of canada. we have 50 states. we would save all of that money. we would have 40 less state government to send money to perk it would save us billions. this is the time where we need new ideas like this to save money. another idea is education. get rid of summer school. all summer school is babysitting. i]are not going to be able to pass and they could stay down level. i propose also every federal employee right now that makes over $100,000 a year needs to çhave their money dropped by 1. it would not hurt them at all.

this is a crisis. another thing, i would love to say how much money our commerce people spend in traveling. i am unemployed. my son is unemployed. he was slated to go back to work next week. his employer -- he got laid off 100 days ago. they are not going to hire him back on police senators attach to this new law so they do not have to pay the social security. the senators are not trying to get there. host: how long have you been unemployed? caller: over one year. host: what kind of work did you do? caller: iç tried retell, restaurants, banks. i have tried the "the washington

post, libraries. our school district got $70 million in stimulus money. they hired less than 24 people. there rest of the money went to raises for the teachers to keep the teachers. give those races back and get some people hired. i am ridiculous. i have $500 coming in unemployment. host: time for one last call. mexico. caller: peter? this is a good corporate i want to thank you for your posting from might have virginia medical center. you did an excellent job with those interviews. host: checked. there was a lot of people who worked on up. credit caplraig kaplan worked o. caller: i sent an e-mail to you.

i wish the hosts could comment on the learning curve you have when you do a series like that. host: thank you. that was kind of you. the only comment i would have is that it is one of the best things about this job, when you have somebody new on and you hear something different. when you are hearing all sorts of new stuff. çthat is the greatest learning curve. we do appreciate thatok very mu. wiccan said that about all cyprus. thank you all very much. -- we cannot say that about all segments. the day will continue. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]